Sand-creeper for automobiles.



` BLPEARSON` SA'ND OREEPER FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLIGATION FILED APR.30,1914.

Patented' Mar. 9, 19.15.

@nieren erahne- -ienrrnnr onnrcn.

i.. wensen, or .soir-Nn FALLS, momenti.

Senn-caserne non. .aiirnrro'ninns incassa.

`tires, and itsobjectsare: First, to provide a creeper that may be readily applied or "removed. Second, to provide a creeper that will adjust itselll to inequalities in the road Without danger of breaking the cross-cleats. rllhird, to provide a Creeper withvvhich it 4will be impossible' for sand and mud to wedge between the ends of' the' divided cleats.. Fourth, to providea creeper -Wliose supportingcleats are so constructed that they will not, ordinarily, slip or creep on the tire. Fifth, to provide -a Creeper that may be dravvn hrrnly andsecurely'around the tire and 'heldrinly in place. Sixth, to provide light, indestructible set Voi ribs for supi porting the creeper. l attain'these objects by the mechanism `illustrated inthe accompanying drawing, in Which-e Figure 1 is a transverse section of a tire With my creeper in place. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a piece of the tire with several links of rny device in place. Fig. 31s a plan of the saine. Fig. l is a4 .planet the blank from which the ribs :for niy Creeper are formed. Fig. 5 vis fasectional end view 'or the supporting ,beltv With'a rib and a cleat in place. Fig. A6 is -a' plan of a Fig. 7 is a section of the same yon the line fe :ci Figf.

Similar letters and numerals "of reference refer to similar parts throughout the several' views in the drawing.'v

ln the constructicnof thiscreeper l maire use of a heavy? rubber belt, Q, 'rer a base upon which to secure the cleats 3, and A which cleats may be secured to the belt by any of the Well lrnovvnappliances in common use for such purposes, as by riveting.- These cleats are, preferably, made of heavy bar metal, but 'any available materiel may be used. The cleats 3 dare madein two sections, each vextending practically bali Way V`across the belt, 'as shown in Fig. 3. The

meeting,a ends o'these cleats are beveled from the points bac'lr for some distance orthe Speolncation of Lettere Bement.` i applica-non sied-april se, 1ers'. `vserial naeeaesc.

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purpose of rendering it impossible vlor clay, mnd, mixed clay and sand, or any other combination of soils to become so packed between the ends at f as to cause unnecessary lateral strain en the belt, or to render the cleats inoperative, orto 'se Wedge vthem apart asto render the surface of the -belt uneven and to rerarnp the sides of the tire Withthe ribsd. .flhe cleats A. "aresomewhat shorter than the. Width of the belt and 1are beveled at the ends.A The cleats 3 and il; are placed on the belt alternately so they each Willassist the other in holding the belt rigidly in position on the tire, and .vvill-,--a't` the Sametime, allow of suficient'enibility inthe belt to cause it to be readily adjusted to any unevenness in the roads, or -to readily respond to `any suddencontact with an nnyielding'r ob the roads.

'llo 4properly support the' belt and its cleats 3 and A on the tirel l, it is necessary to provide a series of ribs, -as 4f, so arranged t that they 'may be set in pairs. with a divisic'n between them close to the `ce'enter 'of the beltl 2, similar tothe division on the cleats 8, so that they may be made to'give slightly 'to the uneven yplaces in va lroad bed. lly prefer that Athese ribs be made of sheet metal, and for' their construction .l forni a blanlr, substantially of the forni shown in Fig. d, the

ject as 'a stone or hard lbubble heavy lines being a `practical outline of said blank. 'lo forni the ribs from these blanks, the sidesare bent in one direction practically en the dotted linesl to :form the Ysides' and'oute-r surface of the ribs. Then the 'part 9 is bent practically on the lines d 'd to ilorln ang'es .on the .surface that rest 'upon thesides othe tire, that Will extend up' a" short 'distance 'on the sides, as indi= cated at 66 inthe several views. This portion is then formed to closely lit-the curved edges `ofthe sides el the rib, and conormvto the circle of thev tire `they are to. be used upon. TThen 'a circle or loop 5 is formedy betweenthe dotted lines c cA in Fig. 4 and thev portion v9 bent around to position te prop- Y erlly enigagethe edges of the sides die ribs. rElie"par'ts` 'l 7,see Fig. fl, are bent outward on the line ato form flanges with which te f rivet or secure the `ribs to the belt 2, and the part l0 is bent inward for the purposes,.Errst.l 1

of forming abearing lier the belt at the edge, and,-tsecond, to torni va support 'te which outer ends ef theicleats 3 3 may be riv'feted.iI BerlineA the-ribs are ccn'apleted5ilk have an' offset, as 8, struck outward practically as shown in Fig. This offset is def signed to be forced into'ithe surface ofthe tire 1 when bearing the weight of the vehicle and its load, for the purpose of preventing the creeper from vslipping' on the The -circlesor loops 5 5` are designed to receive and hold eye bolts.l 16,116, to which the chain links 17 are secured to form a retaining element around each side of the tlre a 1 at the inner ends of the ribs, so that the Creeper cannot, by any possible means, slide laterally upon, or be thrown off of 'the tire, no matter how uneven the surface 'of the road bed may be. I

With this construction itis readily Seen that the 4Creeper mustbe opened at some j point sov it 'may beplacedjon the. t1re, when onthe vehicle wheel, as at g on Fig. 3, tand means must bra-'provided for drawing and' I securing these ends together, and for this purpose any available formpof lever or clamp, may. be usedk to draw the cleats, on

` one side of vthe division g, and the cleat A.

so the swivel screws h15 may be made to' engage the nuts 14, 14, of which'there are twoV sets; 'one set of the swivels being con# .,.nec'ted with the eye bolts 11 at the outer end a on the other side of the division, together'` of ytlielfbs 4:, and lthe 'other set connected kvlithrthefeye bolts 16 at the innerV ends ofv theribsfl so the screws l'may be screwed into saidnuts to draw the belt 2 solidly and securely around'the tire, and hold it firmly vin place-j' To anchor the `toggle screws and nuts'15, 14, the eye` bolts 16, ,towhich the nuts. 14 are secured,'j are `made to pass through the ribs 4 and are securely anchored to the .links -17 'andato avert the danger of drawing thesides ofthe ribs out of place I place tubular anchors in position for the bolts 13 to pass through, `as indicated at 12, which anchorsmust.beV4 of a proper length to exactly fit betweenthe sides of the ribs at this point, it being necessary to have these anchors only at the outer ends of the ribs, as the circles orf'loop's 5 at the other, or inner ends 'of the ribs are' suiiiciently strong to withstand any draft that may .be

brought to bear upon the eye" bolts therein.Y

rI he'other set of togglev screws is attached` to the eyebelts 11,v 11said eye bolts being passed through the cylinders 12,. and securel anchored therein, as'at 13; 13. When the elt 2 has beenfffproperly lstretched around vthe tire] itz-iis 'necessary to provide some means for holdingthefends-of the` belt atvl g 'rmlyfdownlonthe surfacev of the tire, and for this' urpo'se any available device may belused.. n the present instance yI have shown wlres or rods, 18, passed through thecleats 3" and A over these loose' ends, and the ends yof .theyvires or rods bent around against the sides ofv thejcleats, as at h 7F, so theyca'nnot .draw through the cleats.

Itis to be understood that as many of these rods may be used as is desired or necessary to properly hold; the ends of the belt in place.

In Fig.2 I have shown'thewalls 19 of the ribs ,4 cut away practically on the line y y of'Fig'. 7 for the purpose of disclosing the positonsofthe anchor tubes 12, and of the lugs` 10.

n 'This Creeper may be ,placed on the tire either by jacking the aXletree of the vehicle up so the wheel lwill, be clear of the ground and slippingthe Creeper around the tire, 'or

by placing the creeper on the road bed back, or forward ofthe wheel and running the wheel upon it', and then passing the Creeper 'around' the tirepand securing it thereon, substantially las hereinbefore indicated, or by ring the :rim of the wheel, and avoids all.

possible danger of the Creeper vsliding over sidewiseonthe tire, or creeping around the tire.

If the two piece cleats I3 were used alone, I

without some auxiliary element the continual depression of ltheir outer ends when traveling over uneven road beds, would tend, first, to chafe and wear the sidesof the tire-where the ribs 9 come in contact with it, and, second, by continual bending along the centerline of the belt,`to split the belt along this line, and the Vshort integralcleats 11 are interposed between the cleats 3 3.. for the purpose of strengthening this partlcular partof the belt and averti'ng all vvdanger of injury by the continual movement ofthe two piece cleats. They, also, insure b etter traction, as by this means every port1on of the surface ofthe belt is allowed .to conformitself tothe track or bed made by the creeper as the wheel is driven over softsandy surfaces, .and all -danger of the 'wheel 4continuing to revolve 'after the machine has come to a stand still, is, practically, eliminated.

What I claim as new,`and desire to secure by Letters Patent ofthe United States, is:

1. In a sand creeper for automobiles, a

`flexible belt surrounding the tire, cleats mounted on the outer surface of said beltsv`and extending from each edge to the center -of the belt'the ad'acent.- ends of said cleats chamfered to an e ge, and ribs made toconform to the lateral contour -of the tire and secured to the belt, and means for stretching and securing thecreeper on the tire.

2. In a Creeper for automobile Wheels, aexible belt, cleats secured to the outer sur; face of the belt and extending from the edges to near the center of the belt, the meeting ends of the cleats chamfered to form an outwardly opening angle between said ends, a second series of cleats shorter than the width of the belt and secured thereto alten nately with the first series of cleats, ribs secured to the opposite side of the belt and arranged to conform to the lateral contour of the tire, and means for securing the Creeper around the tire.

3. In a creeper for automobiles, a flexible belt,a series of cleats divided laterally at their longitudinal center and the adjacent ends of the two pieces of each cleat chamfered to form outwardly opening angles between these ends, ribs secured to the opposite side of the belt and made to conform to the lateral contour of an automobile tire, circular loops formed at the inner ends of the'ribs, eye bolts passed through said loops, chain links connected with said eye bolts to form a continuous chain of links around the inner edge of the Creeper ribs, means for drawing and firmly securing the belt around an automobile wheel and for securing and holding the meeting pieces of the belt.

4. In a sand Creeper' for automobile wheels and tires, a flexible belt, cleats secured crosswise of the outer surface of the belt, ribs secured to the inner surface of the belt and made to conform to the lateral contour of the tire, said ribs made of sheet metal and having a 'closed outer wall and a smooth even surface to bear upon the surface of the i tire, chains connected with, and connecting the inner ends of the ribs, offsets formed in the surface plates of the ribs to engage the ,surface o f the tire to prevent the Creeper from slipping on the tire, and swivel nuts and screws connected with the outercorner and the inner ends of the two ribs adjacent to the meeting ends of the belt to draw and hold the belt firmly on the tire, and means for holding the meeting endsA of the belt securely on the surface of the tire.

5. In a sand creeper for automobile wheels and tires, a flexible belt, cleats secured at intervals to the outer surface of the belt, and means for drawing the belt firmly around thel tire and securing the ends thereof, in combination with a series of ribs made of sheet metal secured to the inner surface of the flexible belt and having a body with sides cut and bent to conform to the contour of the tire, a fold having upturned flanges at the edges to lap upon the sides, said fold formed to conform to the concave edges of the sides of the ribs and the concave surface of the tire, andmeans connected therewith to draw and hold the Creeper firmly on the tire. Signed at Boyne Falls, Michigan, kApril 25, 1914.

FRANK L. PEARSON.

In presence of-l W. A. DAVoLL, NELLIE H. DAvoLL. 

